The Italian Ministry said that the drop of the arrivals’ number is a result of the assistance of Libyan authorities in combating illegal immigration in the second half of the year.

The Ministry also said that over 119.000 persons arrived in Italy in 2017 compared to 181.000 in 2016.

Meanwhile, Libya, Italy and the IOM are carrying out voluntary deportations of the illegal immigrants trapped in Libya to their countries of origin as per the UN Security Council resolution last month.